DFW Catholic: he Vatican’s representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva says a recent resolution on “sexual orientation and gender identity” is part of an agenda that could restrict the Church’s freedom.

Cal. Family Council: If SB 48 becomes law, it will mandate that California’s public education system include the societal contributions of homosexual, bisexual, and transgender persons into the state’s social science curriculum, yet the content cannot include information that may reflect negatively on that population’s behaviors.

ABC News: As the right to marry gains momentum across the United States, same-sex couples are redefining the traditional roles of husband and wife, and bureaucrats are scrambling to keep pace with the social revolution.

TheLedger.com: A transgender student made University of South Florida officials stop and think. Frustrated by a hostile housing experience, Taylor McCue wanted USF to join the growing number of colleges across the country — like Rutgers and Harvard — now offering students the option to live with anyone of any gender.

LifeSiteNews.com: The City of Chicago dismissed its case Wednesday against a pro-lifer accused of violating a buffer ordinance guarding an abortion clinic, making him the latest of several activists arrested under the city’s buffer zone rules to have the charges dropped.

WSJ: A new study exposes a significant disadvantage for children of divorce: Kids whose birth parents divorce get less financial help with college costs, even if their parents remarry, the study finds . . . led by Ruth N. Lopez Turley, an associate professor of sociology at Rice University . . . published recently in the Journal of Family Issues.

Boston.com: Poland’s prime minister, whose nation just took over the presidency of the European Union, met with top EU officials Friday to discuss key issues including the financial crisis and immigration.

LifeNews.com: An Arizona judge, at the request of the Planned Parenthood abortion business, put on hold important health and safety rules the state legislature approved to protect women using the dangerous abortion drug RU 486.

Marine Corps Times: The Pentagon has ordered a halt to all separations of gay troops under “don’t ask, don’t tell” and will begin accepting applications from prospective recruits who identify themselves as homosexuals.

The Washington Post: Civil rights groups sued Friday in federal court to block Alabama’s new law cracking down on illegal immigration, which supporters and opponents have called the strictest measure of its kind in the nation.

The Washington Post: U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said Friday the Texas execution of Humberto Leal “raises particular legal concerns,” including whether he had access to consular services and a fair trial.

LifeNews.com: Democrats in the state legislature are using a special legislative session to attempt to override the veto pro-life Gov. Chris Christie issued to prevent taxpayers from having to fund the Planned Parenthood abortion business.

Laurence Tribe at NYTimes.com: They argue that the public debt clause is sufficient to nullify the ceiling — or can be used to permit the president to borrow money without regard to the ceiling. Both approaches provide the false hope of a legal answer that obviates the need for a real solution.

FRC : Family Research Council (FRC) praised the U.S. House of Representatives today for overwhelmingly approving U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx’s (R-NC) amendment to the 2012 defense appropriations bill that would prohibit using Pentagon funds in contradiction of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman for all federal purposes.

European Dignity Watch: At a meeting of the European Parliament Platform for Secularism in Politics (EPPSP) on 29 June 2011, there was an unexpected and controversial debate on the role of secularism and religion within the public sphere, where strong views were expressed on both sides. The debate centered on Article 17 of the Lisbon Treaty which commits the European Union (EU) to an open and transparent dialogue with churches and religious associations/communities in Member States and whether it is right to enshrine such a commitment in the Treaty.

Elizabeth F. Emens at NYTimes.com: The summer of 2011 is a watershed moment for marriage equality in New York. To prepare for same-sex marriage, bureaucrats across the state are busily revising marriage license application forms to make the forms sex-neutral. Say goodbye to separate lines labeled “bride” and “groom.” In the interest of gender equality, and in compliance with the law, the new forms should include prominent statements of the marital naming options.

Judith Stacey at NYTimes.com: As the United States gradually makes the membership rules to marriage gender-inclusive, it risks deepening our sharp class and race disparities in marriage and family life. If we wish to avoid this fate, we should not be celebrating the benefits of marriage. Instead we need to develop family policies that give greater recognition and resources to the growing array of families formed, as Nancy Polikoff titled her book, “Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage.”

W. Bradford Wilcox at NYTimes.com: The roots of this growing marriage divide are economic (the postindustrial economy favors the college-educated), cultural (less-educated Americans are abandoning a marriage mindset even as college-educated Americans take up this mindset) and legal (less-educated Americans seem particularly gun shy about marrying in a world where no-fault divorce is the law of the land). Alas, the same-sex marriage debate has crowded out any serious effort to remedy this marriage inequality.

Ralph Richard Banks at NYTimes.com: The cases against polygamy and incest are not nearly as strong as most people imagine. Yet they will not become legal anytime soon. To see why, it helps to understand the evolution of moral assessments of interracial and same-sex marriage.

Wisconsin State Journal: But a letter to Van Hollen from the Alliance Defense Fund, released Thursday, says UW Hospital’s argument doesn’t matter because “there is no ‘reimbursement exception’” to a provision included in the state budget last month targeting UW Hospital and abortions.

Madison.com: The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative legal outfit based in Arizona, filed the request on behalf of Pro-Life Wisconsin. The fund also aided the efforts of Wisconsin anti-abortion groups that eventually succeeded in getting UW Health to drop plans to offer second trimester abortions at the Madison Surgery Center.

Mike Shedlock at Townhall: Starting salaries for last year’s U.S. law school graduates plummeted 20 percent as private practice jobs eroded, according to a report by the National Association for Law Placement.

Washington Examiner: The contract required the school district to purchase health insurance from a company called WEA Trust . . . The problem for Hartland-Lakeside was that WEA Trust was charging significantly higher rates than the school district could find on the open market.

New American: But the Coalition for the War on Illegal Pornography, led by Morality in Media, said the show is nothing more than a pornographic attack on families and the culture that should never see the light of day. “NBC is contributing to the sexual objectification and exploitation of women and encouraging greater acceptance of pornography with its soon-to-be-aired series,” the coalition charged in a press release. The coalition is made up of more than seventy groups, including Focus on the Family, Alliance Defense Fund, Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, American Family Association, Torah Jews for Decency, Wallbuilders, and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

The Blog of Legal Times: An assistant U.S. attorney spent time daily viewing pornography while on the job, and the prosecutor’s computer contained at least one image of child pornography, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said today, citing information from the U.S. Justice Department’s inspector general.

Center for AZ Policy: Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) released the first edition of the 2011 City Elections Voter Guide on azvoterguide.com today. This non-partisan, free resource provides you with straightforward answers from the candidates about where they stand on critical issues for the August 30 election.

Family Research Council Washington Update: Now, however, Frum has changed his mind. In a short CNN op-ed last week, he wrote that “the case against same-sex marriage has been tested against reality. The case has not passed its test.” Tested? Only five out of the fifty states (soon to be six, when New York’s new marriage law takes effect) and the District of Columbia currently allow same-sex “marriage.” Of those, only one (Massachusetts) has had it for more than three years.

TheHill.com: ep. John Kline (R-Minn.) said Thursday that he is considering offering legislation to block new union election rules from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that would likely hasten labor organizing.

The Hill: Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and 21 GOP senators unveiled legislation Thursday that would require Congress to implement several spending caps across government spending, including entitlements, as well as pass a balanced budget amendment before the debt limit could be increased.

AP: The U.S. Supreme Court refused to block Texas from executing a Mexican citizen despite a White House-backed appeal that claimed the case could affect other foreigners arrested in the U.S. and Americans in legal trouble abroad.

Carroll Conley, Jr. of the Maine Family Policy Council at The Record: Many people have asked why in the world the House of Representatives sent an anti-bullying bill back to committee on the last day of the legislative session. These inquisitors included several media outlets and Democratic leadership who questioned the courage, compassion, and integrity of anyone who would oppose this proposed anti-bullying bill that Minority Whip Hayes called “a no-brainer.”